A Merry Little Christmas
by Red Bess Rackham
Summary: When Meredith thinks Derek is going to propose, it gets Izzie talking about proposals. She has no idea what George has in store for her... George/Izzie fluff. Merry Christmas! :D


**Disclaimer: **Clearly, I own nothing. I do not own the song lyrics snippets but I do own the poem.

**A/n: **A little holiday one-shot of intoxicating fluff, as my Christmas present to all the O'Stevens / Gizzie fans out there. This is just cute, random, just-for-fun, sappy fluffiness. Enjoy guys. :)

* * *

"So," Meredith began after swallowing a mouthful of her lunch. "Guess what?"

"Do we have to?" Alex grunted.

"You suddenly love me more than Cristina and you're going to give me the sparkle pager for the rest of the day?" asked Izzie hopefully.

"Sadly, no." Meredith replied.

"The fifth dentist caved and now they all recommend Colgate?" George chuckled.

They all looked at him with mixed looks of amusement and confusion.

"What? You know, the commercial. Four out of five dentists recommend…" He trailed off weakly and then whined defensively, "It was my dad's joke."

Alex smirked.

"You're all wrong." Meredith said before her friends could interject anything else.

"Then end the agony of anticipation and tell us." Izzie said as she stole a few fries from George's plate. He skewered several of her soggy vegetables and made a face after he tasted them.

"Derek's going to propose to me this Christmas." Meredith stated happily.

"Really?" Izzie's eyes went wide.

"How do know?" asked George.

"Because I accidentally walked in when he was trying to sneakily hide a ring box. He tried to play it off as something else but he was so flustered about it that I'm sure it had to be an engagement ring." Meredith grinned smugly.

"Maybe it's for his mom." Alex commented.

Cristina rolled her eyes. To Meredith she asked, "And… you're okay with that? With the whole proposal, engagement, imminent wedding thing?"

"I thought I wouldn't be," Meredith coked her head slightly. "But I am. I really am. I fell excited, actually, about it."

"You remember how well Yang's wedding went, right?" Alex asked snidely and shoveled lasagna into his mouth.

Izzie made a disgusted noise and said, "_Chew_, Alex. _Chew_."

He made a face at her which revealed the contents of his mouth. She made another noise, laughed and shook her head.

"Derek is not Burke, Alex." Meredith said firmly. "Sorry, Cristina."

"Don't be. He's not, I agree. As for me, it… it worked out in the end." Cristina forced a small smile and dropped her gaze to her plate. After George stood to grab a couple plates of dessert from the cafeteria's limited selection, Cristina added thoughtfully, "I think I still have most of the wedding cake in the freezer somewhere if you want it, Mer."

Meredith wrinkled her nose. "I'll pass. Thanks though."

Izzie sighed. "Well, I think it's really cool that you and Derek are taking the next step."

George sat down and handed Izzie a piece of lemon cake which she thanked him for.

"Hopefully he does something really romantic with the proposal," Izzie continued. "It'd be terrible if it was one of those cheesy movie gimmicks, like _Marry Me Marsha_ on the scoreboard at a hockey game, or the ring hidden in the cake after dinner."

George abruptly began choking on his own piece of cake.

"Are you alright?" Izzie and Meredith asked simultaneously.

Red in the face, George caught his breath and said, "You asked for _chocolate _cake…"

"George – "Izzie protested.

He jumped up from the table, scooping up Izzie's plate as he did so.

"Lemon is fine!" Izzie said but George was already hurrying away.

"Anyways…" Alex raised an eyebrow.

They continued to talk about Meredith's potential engagement and how Derek might propose when George finally returned with a plate of chocolate cake for Izzie.

"You okay?" she questioned concernedly once he was sitting.

"Yeah, fine. Got some cake down the wrong tube is all." He smiled warmly at Izzie and added, "Besides, I know you like chocolate better than lemon."

Izzie smiled widely back. "You're so sweet. See? This is why you're my boyfriend." She kissed him on the cheek.

Alex made a gagging noise and Izzie threw a balled up napkin at him.

"Time to get back to it." Cristina gathered up her tray.

Meredith stood with her and sighed. "I can't wait for my week off."

Cristina smirked. "I'm just glad I _didn't_ book a few days off. Think of all the potential turkey carving mishaps I'll get to take care of. Merry Christmas to _me_!"

Meredith laughed.

* * *

"Remind me again why you're dragging me along to help you with your last minute gift shopping on Christmas Eve Eve?" Izzie asked.

It was cold enough outside that they could see their breath but no cold enough that it felt like exposed flesh was freezing instantly. Currently the pair were struggling through a crowded shop with their purchases, heavy coats, hats, scarves and gloves in hand.

"Because you love me." George answered with a grin.

Izzie glanced around at all the people rushing around and at the huge line-up they were standing in to get up to the only open cash register. "Right." She said. "About that…"

"Just be thankful I'm doing this today and not tomorrow."

"I'd have been more thankful if you'd finished your shopping several weeks ago like me."

"Well, normally, I _am_ done early but this year I just… let it slip." George shrugged. "Had other things to think about I guess."

Almost forty minutes later, George and Izzie were finally able to exit the store with their purchases. As they walked down the street towards their next destination, they saw a very colorful display in window across the street. There were seven or eight pieces of poster board sitting on decorated chairs and on each piece of poster board was a sparkling, colored letter. It spelled "Marry Me". A woman was clapping and jumping up and down in front of the window as the man with her got down on one knee.

George smiled and Izzie laughed.

"Seems like Christmas is the time to get engaged," she said.

"Seems like it." George agreed.

"That's such a terrible way to propose, though," Izzie wrinkled her nose. "Out on the street like that. I hope Derek doesn't do something silly like that for Meredith."

The smile dropped from George's face but he quickly hitched a new one on before Izzie noticed.

"It'd be so much more romantic if it was private and more original, meaningful, you know?"

The pair were nearing the corner of the street and George suddenly stopped and grabbed Izzie's hand tightly.

"I'm all done, Iz, let's go home." He said quickly.

"But I thought you needed to go into Halle's around the corner for just one more thing?"

"Nope, don't need to after all, actually." George assured her.

"Oh, well, I'd like to stop in quick then, just to look. It is my favorite store, after all." Izzie started forward.

"No!" George fairly shouted. "I mean, it's… um… well, I should really get home. To wrap, you know. I should… I should get started as soon as possible."

Izzie laughed a little and sighed. "Alright. Well, I'm kind of tired anyways. Let's go."

George exhaled heavily.

* * *

The following day, Christmas Eve, George took Izzie out to their favorite expensive Italian restaurant. They'd booked their reservation months in advance and had an absolutely wonderful and romantic time. When they arrived home, George asked Izzie if she could fetch his favorite mug from his nightstand before she changed out of her dress and he would make them his famous hot chocolate. It was just the two of them in the house.

Izzie avoided the large pile of dirty clothes and grabbed the green and white mug from the nightstand. It was then she noticed the piece of paper inside it. Curious, she removed it and proceeded to read the writing on it.

_Hey beautiful, look in the mirror!_

Izzie raised an eyebrow. "Okay…" She did as she was told, however, and left the room to go look at the bathroom mirror.

Once in the bathroom, she immediately spotted the note taped to the mirror. Her smile growing, Izzie read the note.

_That dress looks fantastic on you. Red is your color. You also look amazing in that old blue sweatshirt of mine…_

Izzie giggled and hurried back to George's room to find his comfy old blue sweatshirt. He always complained when she wore it that it was his favorite and that she would wreck it somehow, but she knew he loved to see her in it. She loved to wear it because it was firstly just _so_ comfy – comfier than any of her old sweatshirts, she maintained – and secondly it smelled like him.

After finding the sweatshirt, with another note pinned to it, Izzie was sent on a little treasure hunt all through the upstairs. The notes sent her all over George's room, to obscure locations in her and Meredith's rooms, the bathroom several more times and then back to George's room. Each note had a cute message on it that made her smile, laugh or become more excited to see what the end prize was. Finally she reached the last note. It read, _O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree, how lovely is that green and red ornament with an 'I' on it, on your branches!_

Izzie raced downstairs (careful not to trip over the hem of her dress) and into the living room. All the lights were off except for the Christmas lights on the tree, and George was no where to be seen. She headed straight for the tree and front and center was a huge round ornament with a sparkling white 'I' on it. She touched it gingerly, a bit unsure of what to do next. She leaned a bit closer and could see a faint line around the middle of the ornament, possibly meaning it opened. Izzie removed it from the tree and very gently twisted it.

It opened easily and she held her breath as she looked inside. There was another piece of paper, this one tied with silver ribbon in a tight little scroll. Izzie set the ornament down and unrolled the little scroll. A poem was written on the paper in George's tight handwriting. Tears sprung to Izzie's eyes as she read it.

"_Izzie, you are my soulmate in every way,_

_I think about you every single day._

_We are best friends who fell in love,_

_And I think you are an angel sent from up above._

_You are fun, beautiful, sweet, caring and kind,_

_You are the true love I never thought I'd find._

_You're the only one I long for, the only one I need,_

_Wherever you are, is where I want to be._

_With you is how I want to spend the rest of my life,_

_And so I ask, Isobel Stevens, will you be my wife?_"

The tears spilled down onto Izzie's flushed cheeks. Her hand that held the paper shook as the other one moved to cover her mouth. At that moment, her favorite Christmas song ever began playing softly: _Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas_, sung by Judy Garland.

_Have yourself a merry little Christmas…_

Izzie turned around quickly, trying to just breathe.

_Let your heart be light…_

George was there, smiling a bit nervously as he held out an open ring box with a stunning, sparkling white gold and diamond ring nestled inside it. "Well?" he whispered.

Izzie laughed and threw her arms around George's neck. He held her tight and spun her around, and they laughed and she cried and they wished the moment would never, ever end.

_Next year, all our troubles will be out of sight…_

Izzie pulled back enough to kiss George passionately on the lips, tears clinging to her eyelashes and making George's cheeks wet too. Eventually, she pulled back for a breath.

_Have yourself a merry little Christmas…_

"So…" George pushed a piece of long blonde hair that had come out of Izzie's up-do behind her ear. "Is that a yes?"

Izzie laughed and sniffed. "Yes, it is."

_Next year, all our troubles will be miles away…_

"Was it too cheesy?"

Izzie giggled. "It was absolutely cheesy and totally silly and wildly romantic and bar none the most perfect proposal in the history of proposals."

George grinned – more like beamed. "Wow. That's good to hear. I almost messed it up a few times."

_Once again, as in olden days…_

"Really? How?"

"Cake, signs in window displays… you know. Terrible movie gimmicks."

Izzie clapped her hand over her mouth guiltily. "Oh no! Oh George… I'm so ridiculous." The realization hit her full force that George had in fact been trying to propose for weeks and her big mouth had caused him to hastily abort his plans and make new ones. "You could've proposed any one of those ways or the most unoriginal, cheesy, gimmicky way and I would've said yes. I'm all talk. I say I hate the lame movie proposals and the overused lines, but I know I'd be all mush if they were used on me."

"Now you tell me." George rolled his eyes.

_Happy golden days, of yore…_

Izzie bit her lip.

George kissed her cheek. "I'm glad you did shoot down all the other ideas. This was more fun anyways."

"It really was."

_Faithful friends, who are near to us…_

George moved back a little bit from Izzie in order to take the ring from the box and slide it onto Izzie's slender fingers. It was a perfect fit and it looked absolutely lovely on her. She hadn't ever brought up rings with George yet he'd seemed to pick the most perfect ring she could possibly imagine.

_Will be dear to us, once more…_

They slow danced close together after that for quite some time, listening to classic Christmas songs, with only the light of the Christmas tree making the room glow in a soft palette of colors.

_Someday soon, we all will be together,_

_If the fates allow._

_Until then, we'll have to muddle through somehow…_

Foreheads touching, they drank in each other's presence, ecstatic they were going to spend the rest of their lives together. That they were going to spend the rest of their lives with their best friend, soul mate, and _true love._

_So have yourself, a merry little Christmas now..._

**-end-

* * *

A/n:** Fluff galore! Hope you enjoyed it. Thanks for reading and any/all feedback is greatly desired and appreciated. Think of it as your Christmas present to me. ;) Merry Christmas everyone!!


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